CITA – Delivering a national BIM awareness programme

Formed in 2001, the Construction IT Alliance (CITA) was set up to increase the extent of IT knowledge within the traditionally technology shy construction sector and to encourage industry professionals to take advantage of current and emerging information and communication technologies.

Alan Hore of DIT and Ken Thomas of WIT are behind the organisation which is on a crusade to promote the take-up of BIM and ensure firms know just how valuable it could be to their business. CITA is currently rolling out a series of regional events which will educate and inform on the topic of BIM; each event includes a local architect, engineer, contractor or QS who are already using BIM and can speak from experience on the advantages of implementing the software.

CITA-Suzanne-Purcell

Suzanne Purcell is the CITA General Manager and is responsible for organising the Regional and Dublin BIM information events. “In November last year we hosted the CITA BIM Gathering, a two day conference with about 60 presentations in total including international presenters. We had industry chairs from the likes of OPW, RIAI, CIF, Enterprise Ireland and quite a few of the academic institutions like Trinity, DIT and WIT. We also had the NDFA so it was very well supported by the sector.” Back in 2010, presentations were by vendors and were focused on specific software; in 2011 the organisation started doing more client and industry based presentations.

Architect and managing partner at ArcDox, Ralph Montague works as a consultant for CITA and assists Suzanne each month in choosing speakers and topics for each meeting. He also speaks at the events, taking about the reasons why companies should be adopting BIM and outlining a roadmap for delegates to get them started. Already, CITA has been to four regions (Waterford, Cork Athlone and Galway) and the interest has been encouraging. “We try and link each regional event with an IT college. The reason for that is really to get the buy-in from undergraduate students who in fairness, are very interested. They’re the ones who are driving BIM through the colleges and they want it brought into all the undergrad programmes. Tied up with this is trying to get the lecturers on board and getting them to a level where they can train they students.”

Interest from the sector has been positive. “They are definitely interested in adopting BIM but the biggest barrier for them is cost; there’s no doubt that there’s an upfront cost involved. But when you spread that out over a year of doing a project, it’s going to speed up your work, make it more efficient so in the long run it’s actually going to be cheaper than if you weren’t using BIM.” People who previously showed no interest in BIM are now attending the regional and Dublin events. A nominal charge of €25 plus VAT is required to attend each event unless you’re a member of CITA; if you’re a member, you can attend 16 events free of charge.

Architects and engineers are, according to Suzanne, more open to the adoption of BIM. “With quantity surveyors, I don’t think we’ll see an uptake there until it’s mandated from the government. Keynote-photoThere’s also an issue in relation to ownership – there are a lot of questions about BIM and who owns the model. Who’s going to be in charge of the model? If an architect designs the model and builds it and then the engineer inputs their data, who will hold up their hands if there’s a mistake when the contractor comes to build it? At the events, Ralph always makes a point of saying that just because a model has been passed on, the same rules of professionalism still apply. Regardless of whether BIM has been used or not, each team needs to be able to stand over their work.”

Architects and engineers are, according to Suzanne, more open to the adoption of BIM. “With quantity surveyors, I don’t think we’ll see an uptake there until it’s mandated from the government. There’s also an issue in relation to ownership – there are a lot of questions about BIM and who owns the model. Who’s going to be in charge of the model? If an architect designs the model and builds it and then the engineer inputs their data, who will hold up their hands if there’s a mistake when the contractor comes to build it? At the events, Ralph always makes a point of saying that just because a model has been passed on, the same rules of professionalism still apply. Regardless of whether BIM has been used or not, each team needs to be able to stand over their work.”

BIM isn’t mandated in Ireland but Suzanne stresses this shouldn’t discourage construction professionals from adopting the process. “Don’t wait until it’s mandated because then it’s too late. People who have been working on BIM for the last five years are going to be in a stronger position to bid for the work ahead of you because they’re already fully upskilled. You can’t just go on a three day training course and suddenly say I’m doing BIM, it’s a steep learning curve but the pay-off is worth it.” If a firm is interested in BIM, their first port of call should be the CITA website. “We have a huge archive of info. You can become an associate member of CITA for €50 plus VAT and gain access to all our presentations from the past four years. That really is the best place to start off and increase your knowledge.”

This article first appeared in Irish Building Magazine and can be viewed with this link.